Rivers and River Transport 119 



with Spalding for its inland port ; and (3) the Witham, which 

 passes through the Fens and into the Wash by way of Boston. 

 There is abundant testimony available as to the former great 

 importance of these rivers. 



Defoe says of Lynn : " There is the greatest extent of 

 Inland Navigation here, of any Port in England, London 

 excepted. The Reason whereof is this, that there are more 

 Navigable Rivers empty themselves here into the Sea, in- 

 cluding the Washes, which are branches of the same Port, 

 than at any one Mouth of Waters in England, except the 

 Thames and the Humber." 



Nathaniel Kinderley, in his work on " The Ancient and 

 Present State of the Navigation of the Towns of Lynn, 

 Wisbeach, Spalding and Boston " (2nd edition, 1751), speaks 

 of the Bedford Ouse as having five rivers emptying themselves 

 into it from eight several counties ; and he says that it " does 

 therefore afford a great Advantage to Trade and Commerce, 

 since hereby two Cities and several great Towns are therein 

 served, as Peterborough, Ely, Stamford, Bedford, St. Ives, 

 Huntington, St. Neots, Northampton, Cambridge, Bury St. 

 Edmunds, Thetford, &c., with all Sorts of heavy commodities 

 from Lyn ; as Coals and Salt (from Newcastle), Deals, Fir- 

 Timber, Iron, Pitch and Tar (from Sweden and Norway), 

 and Wine (from Lisbon and Oporto) thither imported, and 

 from these Parts great Quantities of Wheat, Rye, Cole-Seed, 

 Oats, Barley, &c., are brought down these Rivers, whereby a 

 great foreign and inland Trade is carried on and the Breed 

 of Seamen is increased. The Port of Lyn supplies Six Coun- 

 ties wholly, and three in Part." 



Another writer of the same period, Thomas Badeslade, who 

 published in 1766 a " History of the Ancient and Present State 

 of the Navigation of the Port of King's Lyn and of Cambridge 

 and the rest of the trading Towns in those Parts," took up 

 the argument that the number of inhabitants, the value of 

 land, the trade, the riches and the strength of every free 

 State were great in proportion to their possession of navigable 

 rivers ; and he went on to declare that " Of all the Navigable 

 Rivers in England the River of the Great Ouse is one of the 

 chief, and Lyn sits at the door of this river, as it were the 

 turnkey of it." 



The various large and populous towns (as already mentioned) 



